Clemency (DNF)

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A/N: I made this chapter kinda longer than usual for you guys. Enjoy, ya lovelies. <3

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I slide out of the passenger seat of Mom's three year-old SUV. It's a boring and gray but Mom loves it to pieces. She won't buy a new car. Shutting the door behind me, I wave goodbye to her and slowly walk up to the front gates of the school. The security guard is busy with his phone and doesn't acknowledge me as I push the giant blue gate open. It shuts behind me with a loud thud, making me wince. That gate is unnecessarily loud. It's made me wince almost every single time I close it. You'd think I'd be used to it by now.

I wrap my arms around my stomach nervously. After yesterday's event, I don't know what to expect from Ethan. I had asked him why he had been so angry at me that morning when we'd bumped into each other. He'd turned red and mumbled something about his dad and arguing and how it wasn't me he was angry at, giving me an apologetic smile. I don't know why he was being so nice to me.

Maybe Ethan's opinions about me had changed, but the rest of the student body still hated me. Charlotte and Zoey had given me up because "that's what the people wanted." Other than the hurt and disappointment, there was also relief when they'd done that. I was tired of following Charlotte's endless list of rules on how to act, dress, and be in general.

I reach my locker and spin in the combination. Someone's laughs echo down the hallway and I turn to look. Charlotte. Of course. Her high-pitched, fake laugh she had saved for boys she liked, the laugh I had absolutely adored before. I roll my eyes and continue what I was doing.

"Remember when you used to be jealous of that laugh? Now you're rolling your eyes. You've changed, my friend." I turn at those last words. Ethan thought of me as a friend again. He has a silly grin on his face as he leans back against the locker next to mine. People are turning to stare. I fiddle with me sleeves self-consciously.

"Friend? We're friends again?" My eyes are wide, hopeful. He had said yesterday that he still hadn't forgiven me, but friends fight, don't they?

"You don't want to be friends?" His thick, black brows furrow in confusion. I shake my head fervently.

"Oh, no, no. I want to be friends. I just thought... I mean... do you?" The last part comes out as a whisper.

"Yeah, of course," he shrugs. "Friends can argue sometimes."

I nod and grin at him, happy that we weren't arguing still. Now I just had to do something to make him forgive me for bullying his sister so much...

After the second period, I run at full speed to the other side of the building where my next class, English, is. Seriously, whichever teacher made my schedule has a grudge against me. I'm out of breath and bent down with my hands on my knees, panting, when I reach the classroom. The tardy bell didn't ring yet. Standing up and brushing a hand over my hair, I step inside the classroom and take my seat at the second last row in the room.

Charlotte is in this class, sitting two desks to the right from me. She's doodling something in her notebook with a dopey smile on her face. I bet I know what she's doodling. 'Charlotte + Sean = Forever' or something stupid like that. She had once made a rule that we weren't allowed to date a guy for more than three months. I didn't date much. I was waiting till I got older. She found that hilarious and idiotic and said so every chance she got. Zoey went through guys as fast as a roller coaster. Charlotte didn't follow that rule. Sean Adams and she had been dating the whole year. And frankly, they were pretty much perfect for each other. Both were full of themselves, and you might think their egos would tear them apart, they brought them even closer.

She catches me staring at her and glares at me, her laser eyes making me jump and turn around to face the front of the classroom. She rolls her eyes and turns back to her drawing. Fortunately, Mr Ferdinand comes in just in time to save me from any more humiliation.

"Okey dokey, good morning! Take out your your copies of To Kill a Mockingbird. Let's discuss chapter 4. Hurry up, now. You lot are as slow as sloths today!"

It's the last period and I'm trying to remember what homework we have so I know which books to take home. That's what I get for not writing the homework assignments down. I grab the bulky physics textbook, the math one, and a couple notebooks for other subjects to review my notes. After shoving those into my bag, I slam my locker shut and turn around to catch the bus, only to come face to face with Ethan.

"Woah there," I chuckle. I notice his unsettling expression and my own face scrunches in concern. Ethan had always been so open about his feelings; he'd never been able to hide them properly, no matter how hard he tried. He didn't change a bit.

''What's wrong?" He inhales deeply and slowly lets it out. Even though he couldn't prevent his feelings from showing on his face, he found it hard to explain them and talk to people about personal details about his life.

"Well... my parents, you see, they've been fighting since last night, and I'm pretty sure they still are and I certainly do not want to go back there. The tension..." he trails off and visibly shudders.
"I'm sorry. You want to go out for ice cream or something? We can hang out at my place afterwards," I suggest.

Ethan shakes his head. "No... I thought I would visit Emily..."

I swallow the lump forming in my throat. "Okay," I slowly nod. "You should do that. Yeah."

"I came to you 'cause I wanted you to come with me. Would you?" he silently pleaded me with his eyes.
"Ethan... I don't know..." I bit my lip, seeing his crestfallen look. I couldn't say no now. He looked so sad, the poor guy.

"Okay. Fine. I'll go," I exhaled through my nose. I dreaded this already.